What a megahit in Gdańsk! A five-set show for Trefl
A great spectacle in Gdańsk. A tie-break was needed to determine the winner of the match between Trefl and Jastrzębski Węgiel. The hosts left the field more satisfied.
Jastrzębski Węgiel has not had an easy time recently. Less than two days before the start of the match with Trefl, Gdańsk played a home match against Bogdanka LUK Lublin. Several hours after the end of the match, the volleyball players were on their way to Pomerania. In Saturday's hit in the north of the country, they left the pitch defeated. Trefl Gdańsk triumphed 3:2 (20:25, 30:28, 28:26, 20:25, 15:13).
Trefl Gdańsk showed its strength
The match started very well for the guests, who immediately gained a several-point advantage. Trefl started the match with a false start and was unable to catch up with the result. In the middle of the set, the loss of the team from Pomerania was already five points, which only built the self-confidence of the rivals from Jastrzębie-Zdrój. Although the Croatian coach reacted with changes and at times, even though he minimized the loss, he did not manage to completely eliminate it. Jastrzębski had a great ending. Thanks to a series of points, he won 25:20.
The second set initially went very favorably for the host team, which quickly gained a four-point advantage. The Jastrzębie team had to react and from a 3:7 loss they led to a 10:10 draw. From then on, apart from the temporary advantage of the Gdańsk team, they did much better. In the second part of the set, the guests had a margin of one or two points, which was supposed to give them the comfort needed to confidently triumph in the set. Meanwhile, Trefl had a phenomenal ending. The Gdańsk team took advantage from the score of 20:24. In the following minutes, the fans witnessed a point-for-point fight. The game dragged on until finally luck smiled on the team from Gdańsk. They won 30:28 and leveled the match.
Jastrzębski Węgiel was chasing the result
The third set was also played in an atmosphere of advantage play. Trefl again had a great series at the beginning, leading 4:1. However, the Jastrzębie team did not give up and equalized the score before the tenth point. Practically apart from one fragment around the 20th point, the fans in the Gdańsk hall watched the fight point by point. Jan Martinez Farnchi and Kewin Sasak performed solidly for the home team. In turn, Jastrzębski Węgiel could count on Jurij Gladyr or Tomasz Fornal. Ultimately, the locals again had the slightest advantage. They won 28:26 and took the lead.
The defeat in the third set acted as an alarm for the guests from Silesia. Although Trefl again won the first points, Marcelo Mendez's team quickly gained a large lead. The advantage grew and grew, and at one point it even reached 17:11. It seemed that both teams might be getting ready for a tie-break, but Trefl tried to delay the end of the game as much as possible. He still tried to make up for the losses, but in the end he had to acknowledge the superiority of his rival and get ready for the decisive hand (25:20 for JW.).
The tie-break started favorably for the guests. They took a small lead, which gave them strength. With the score 4-1 for JW, Juricić reacted with a timeout. The loss decreased slightly, and with the score 7:7 it no longer existed. Jastrzębie was one step ahead of its rivals, but they felt they could beat the national champion at home. In the end, it seemed that more luck smiled on Mendez's team. After a while, however, Trefl showed that they were also lucky. The razor blade fight lasted until the very end. No one could predict the future winner. Ultimately, after a long challenge on both sides, JW's block grinding gave Trefl the win in the tie-break 15:13 and in the whole match 3:2.
Fight for points in PlusLiga
Jan Martinez Franchi was chosen MVP of the match. Jastrzębski Węgiel is still ahead of Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and Projekt Warszawa in the general classification. Trefl Gdańsk is currently fifth.